Mermaids in Peril

This past weekend, amid a sense of impending doom and passionate protest, the mermaids paraded once again through Coney Island, many of us wondering if it would be for the last time.



You couldn't miss the message. T-shirts at Lola Starr's and Ruby's urged "Save Coney Island." There was an odd requiem or two here and there. Through a fence bannered with the words "The Future of Coney Island," you saw a view of flattened earth and digging machines. And in a window on Surf Avenue, sailor girls prepared a place for Queen Mermaid, Savitri D, to hold a hunger strike to rescue Coney from the "gentrifying apocalypse of retail entertainment hell."





She and King Neptune, Reverend Billy, led off the parade, following the big drum of Dick Zigun, the former unofficial Mayor of Coney, recently resigned in protest. One troupe sent evildoing real-estate developers in yellow hardhats, with money spilling from their stuffed shirts, running down the boardwalk while the good guys tried to capture them in nets. The onlookers booed and hissed. Thor pulled a luxury high-rise inviting people to the June 24 Community Scoping Meeting.

The rest of the parade was a swirl of glittering jellyfish, topless mermaids, and other people who love any excuse to get dressed up in some crazy outfit--proof that New York is still New York, at least once a year, in places like Coney Island.



After the parade Billy and Savitri gave their King and Queen speeches to a small but rapt crowd. Billy urged us to save Coney. Savitri spoke of her deep-sea sorrows and planned starvation. The rest of us crossed our fingers and prayed for a miracle.

• All my Mermaid Parade pics on flickr
• Watch the Queen Mermaid on live Hunger Cam
• Go to the Coney Rezoning Meeting June 24
• Find out how to save Coney
  

Coney Island Rally

CONEY ISLAND COALITION CALLS FOR NEW YEARS DAY RALLY

In what is probably the biggest and most devastating vanishing of 2008, with our backs turned, in the dark of winter, Coney Island has been destroyed and snatched, from one end of the boardwalk to the other. When spring comes, nothing will remain.

Rally New Year's Day at noon. Click here for more information.

"A few days before Christmas, Thor CEO Joe Sitt’s agents began evicting longtime tenants by cutting off locks, asking for triple the rent, or refusing to discuss 2009 leases. On Christmas Eve, huge custom-sized "Space For Lease" banners were put up on Ruby's Bar & Grill, Nathan’s Boardwalk store, Cha Cha’s, and others businesses on Thor owned property in Coney Island."

NOTE: Ruby's will be open and hosting polar bears...so there's another reason to go out into the cold.

See photos of the devastation here

New York Dive

Back in 2007, I interviewed Reed Korach about his film New York Lost. Now Reed is back with a second project, New York Dive, chronicling the life and the loss of New York City's favorite dive bars. Still in progress, it will be a feature-length film and Reed hopes to finish by early 2011.

He and his co-director and cinematographer John Brunetti were inspired to make the film by a visit to Rudy's in Hell's Kitchen. Said Reed, "I realized this was one of the last real bars left in Manhattan that has a variety of real New York characters. There was a fight outside...and this prompted us to see what was going on. We were greeted by the sounds of Metallica's 'Enter the Sandman,' and roasting hot dogs and cheap beers. It was like a godsend compared to the $7 beers next door. It was like traveling back in time."


at Rudy's in Hell's Kitchen

In the film, a Rudy's regular says, "It would be devastating if one day they're closing the place, and you know when the lease it out, then Starbucks coming in, with a lot of money, and then you have all this plastic shit coming in, one after another, and nobody needs these fucking stores... it becomes too much Yuppietown."

But dive bars do close, as we know, and Yuppietown sweeps into their place. Recently, Ruby's of Coney Island was given the boot after 76 years on the boardwalk. Reed and Brunetti feature Ruby's in their film, talking to one regular who's been drinking at Ruby's for 69 years.


Old-time regular at Ruby's in Coney Island

They also visit the Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge, Holland Bar, J. Mac's, Superdive ("totally fake" say the filmmakers), and Max Fish. "We also filmed quite a few yuppie bars on the LES to differentiate between the two atmospheres." A yuppie bar is definitely not a dive.

On film, a regular at the Holland Bar defines the "dive" as "a cheap bar, not painted up to look good and shit. You get good drinks for the price of your money." And as the bartender says, "I have the real New Yorkers here, not your la-di-da-la-la-la."


at the Holland Bar

At the (possibly 100-year-old) Navy Yard Cocktail Lounge in Brooklyn, which is currently being demolished, a gal explains, "people come here, some people need somebody actually to sit and talk, it's not just all about the dancing and feeling up on nobody. Some people just need that common, you know, communication."

That common communication is exactly what you find at a dive bar. What will happen when they are all washed away and replaced with Shake Shacks and artisanal cupcake shops?


The Navy Yard

The filmmakers both agree, "It would be a real punch in the stomach" to see more of the city's beloved dives disappear. "These are the places that portray what the real New York is all about, in my opinion--life-long New Yorkers and sociable people, unlike today's generation."

View the extended trailers for New York Dive here and here.


Ruby's son-in-law, sharing memories

More dives on VNY:
Jimmy's Corner
Holiday Cocktail Lounge (rescued)
P&G (relocated)
Blarney Cove
Hickey's
Sophie's
Mars Bar
Holland Bar (rescued)
Dick's (vanished)
George's (vanished)

Ruby's Bar of Coney Island

VANISHING?

Ruby’s Old Time Bar was opened by Rubin “Ruby” Jacobs just a few decades ago, yet it looks like it’s been on the boardwalk forever. Maybe that’s because Ruby had been there all his life, first selling knishes on the sand then operating Coney’s last bathhouses, Stauch’s, Claret’s, and Bushman’s. Souvenir ticket stubs and photographs from the bathhouses line the walls of Ruby’s bar, along with hundreds of photos from Coney’s glorious past.


painting in photo by robert leach

When you ask Coney people if they'll be there next year, they shrug and say, "Who knows?" A counterman at Gregory & Paul's responded by calling out, "Who knows, who knows, only the nose knows! Step right up for ice-cold beer here!"

At Ruby's, I asked Frank the bartender if he thought they’d have another season on the beach. He told me, “Sometimes I get a good feeling and sometimes I get a bad feeling. Maybe we’ll get another year, but I wouldn’t put my money on it. Why would someone pay millions of dollars for this property and then let us stay? I’m just taking it one day at a time. Like an alcoholic, or a drug addict.”

*Everyday Chatter

On Lost Bohemia and lost Coney. [NYDN]

Lost Bohemia extended--tonight only at IFC. [Tix]

From this weekend's Coney Island rally to save Ruby's, a video tribute. [ATZ] ...and see Tricia's photos of the rally here.

"Shame on you, Zamperla"--a rundown of Ruby's coverage. [Grub]

"The city needs to recognize that there’s a place for iconic spots like Ruby’s in the new Coney Island." [BP]

Villagers say NO to NYU tower. [Curbed]

"Looking into one of Max Ferguson's paintings is like peering through a window to a New York that has disappeared." [NYDN]


Max Ferguson: painting of Fontana Shoe Repair

Welcome the new Bowery Boogie.

New owners of Superdive space want your input. [EVG]

Walking on W. 8th, then and now. [FP]

The Crumbs at Barnes & Noble. [SG]

What's happening at the old Empire Diner--soon to be called The Highliner, of course. [Eater]

Do children really need credit cards? [NYP]

"People need to recognize that bed bugs are here, and they're not going away." [CNN]

*Everyday Chatter

J.D. Salinger is gone. [NYT]

Help save the City Reliquary: they need"$60,000 in order to maintain its operations this year or they will shut their doors for good." You can go to their firefighter date auction to give support. [NYP]

Wrangling the wild cats of Coney Island. [ATZ] ...might they be members of Hijinx's murderous gang?

Kevin of FNY shares the good news via email that Ruby's Bar and more will be open at Coney this summer. Writes Ruby's, "From Beer Island to Gyro corner - every business is all ready confirmed to open for 2010. The city is the new landlord of the boardwalk side property. When the city took over form Sitt we were all ready confirmed along with Lola Staar returning to her spot next to Ruby's on the boardwalk."

An interesting window in Chelsea--giant cockroaches, a dog, Marilyn:


Enjoying sunlight and graffiti on Great Jones while it lasts. [EVG]

Remembering the Staten Island neighborhood of Linoleumville. [ENY]

Wall Street brokers, an "embattled minority" (?), hold a rally to save themselves, and threaten, "If someone in the middle of Minnesota says something bad about Wall Street, we will respond." [NYT]

Tenement storefronts come back to life at the museum. [BB]

The death of a hairdresser, a memorial to Miwa. [LC]

*Everyday Chatter

The marketing of New York City's facial hair--"Rep your borough" with the Braun Cruzer. Why does Manhattan get the hipstery curly one?


Finally, some good news for Coney Island--Paul's Daughter has signed a 10-year lease: "Both Papa and Mama Burger and a mix of new and old hand-painted signage as well as a neon sign are expected." [ATZ]

And Ruby's has signed an 8-year lease: "We look forward to seeing our loyal friends and customers for many years." [FB]

Tom's comes to Coney. Says Zamperla, "We are learning a little bit. After a year and a half, we understand how important Coney Island is to the Brooklyn community." [Gothamist]

Yet another death for Gasoline Alley--the Mobil station in Meatpacking will become high-end retail. [Racked]

Hotel Chelsea is evicting long-time tenants. [Curbed]

One reason to love New York: "St. Mark's Bookshop Lives." [NYM]

Amazing film footage of Times Square at its sleaziest. [VS]

Loathing the SantaCon hordes on Second Avenue. [EVG]

Touring Calvary Cemetery. [FNY]

20x200 is having an open house tomorrow night--check out the affordable art, including some framed CBGB prints from Joseph O. Holmes. [FB]

2010 Review

It's the time of year for end-of-year lists and roundups. In 2010, the losses seemed fewer in number, but there were some big ones in there. We lost more of our old newsstands and watched too much of Coney Island collapse or get pushed out (Ruby's and Paul's Daughter and the Shore Hotel...). I'm still in denial about Coney.



Otherwise, at the top of my list of grievances, there's Skyline Books, a great bookshop gone and still mourned. The closure of Gino remains a major heartbreak, as is the demolition and reappropriation of Fedora. I'm not getting over those two. Carmine's at the Seaport was a third Italian joint to go.





While the little bakery Les Desirs was not a place close to my own heart, it was of major importance to many senior citizens in Chelsea. The closure of St. Vincent's Hospital, of course, was a tremendous blow for many Villagers.

The shuttering of Atomic Passion marked another death to vintage and thrift in the East Village, while the fall of the Treasures & Trifles antique shop made more space available to the Jacobsian on Bleecker. At the other end of Bleecker, the Aphrodisia Herb Shop closed this year. And little Alphaville shut down, taking its vintage toys with it.



In bars, we lost Hickey's, and plenty of boozers will miss The Rum House, but Freddy's was the big one, finally crushed by eminent domain. It may yet reopen. Village Paper fell to fire, but reopened on 8th Street. Novac Noury's crazy building was demolished by the city, pushed by the Standard Hotel and the changing Meatpacking District.

There were more, of course. I only listed the ones covered in this blog. With the impending loss of Mars Bar, the Pink Pony, and Max Fish, 2011 is already looking bleak.


For more year-end roundup, check out Lost City's Bring Out Your Dead.

*Everyday Chatter

Here are some pics of that SATC mob scene. I keep imagining a modern version of the Maenads, with their "violence, bloodletting, sexual activity, self-intoxication, and mutilation." [Racked]

Speaking of bacchanalias, I do so love hearing about the A Building's crazy pool parties. Especially when they involve hedge fund guys taking drunken craps on the floor. [Curbed]

And speaking of crap on the floor, Bloomberg's really upset that his part in the SATC movie ended up on the cutting room floor. [City Room]

16th Street gets more condoschmerz as old #335 is bookended by the opened Modern and the soon-to-open Condominiums @ 333, which comes complete with an odd-looking round escape hatch in the roof--maybe they'll put in a fireman's pole. Now that's an amenity. But don't worry about the old tenants of #335--they won't feel squeezed because they're leaving. SVA signed a lease for the whole building, which is owned by Tyco. Remember them?


Ruby's of Coney Island is shuttered by the Board of Health after a guy taking a leak falls through the floor into a pile of shit surrounded by rats bigger than dogs. Now that's New York! Here's more on Ruby's from last summer. [NYO]

Where once was a community clinic, there will now be a gated condo. [Curbed]

Indulge in more mourning for the Bowery. [Voice]

Worth checking out: a lovely exhibit of drawings by AK Corbin at the Ansonia pharmacy on 6th Ave and 10th St.

Take a video tour of sailors' tattoos--hot stuff. [City Room]

Then take a walk on rapidly vanishing Fulton Street, where condos are fast replacing scruffy little shops and bars, like Ryan's. Even if they could co-exist, the yunnies won't stand for dirty floors--though, as we read earlier, they will take craps on their own floors. [EV Grieve]

Ruby's

My last drink at Ruby's on the boardwalk at Coney Island.



I don't have much to say about it.



It's been here, "a Brooklyn treasure," since 1934.



After this summer, it will crumble under a corporate tsunami, along with the rest of the boardwalk.



How can I ever go out there again?

*Everyday Chatter

Is the Subway Inn closed for good? Not according to their Facebook page, where it says they are "Temporarily Closed...Until renovations are complete." (Hope we don't lose the aquatic green lighting.)

As Cha-Cha's and Ruby's prepare for either closure or gutting, a sad auction at Coney Island. [ATZ]

Last day (?) at Ruby's. [OMFS]

Park Slopers are dressing their kids as food trucks. [Eater]

Check out John Conn's photos of the NYC subway in the 1970s--a "house of horrors." [NYT]

Saturday's snow on flowers and greenery--Hell in a handbasket:


Will Park Slope's Ozzie's cafe become a Starbucks--and lose the TRUSSES signage? [HPS]

A melee at 7A. [EVG]

Gowanus Canal: The Toxic Playground. [Kensinger]

Bloomberg tries to freeze out the Wall St. Occupiers. [NYM]

And now the NYPD may be encouraging drunks and crazies to "take it to Zuccotti." Psychological warfare? [Gothamist]

*Everyday Chatter

Coney Island: Will there really be a place in this Disney-Six-Flagsland for joints like Ruby's and Gregory & Paul's? [NYDN]



"the number of young children living in Manhattan increased by more than 30 percent between 2000 and 2006. And stroller-clogged sidewalks, child-friendly cafes ... confirm that it’s possible to raise children without moving to the suburbs." [NYT]

Speaking of city kids, tipster Sally tells me her young, pre-teen architecture students, many from affluent homes, now want to design hotels in their free time. While a few kids always had this wish, it used to be "only Hotels for Monkeys, and they had ongoing and intense hotel plans...for monkeys." Now I guess the kids today want their hotels filled with people who just act and think like monkeys.

*Everyday Chatter

The majority of New Yorkers love Occupy Wall Street. [NYO]

Bloomberg spent $5.6 million on his own PR to defend his record--and more to overcome "the challenge of convincing New York City voters that billionaire Mike Bloomberg was different." [NYO]

Big-time authors support OWS with Occupy Writers site. [NYM]

The corner of 1st and 13th seeks a chain store--in the former home of the late, great Mee Noodle shop. [EVG]

Should St. Vincent's Park be a privately owned public space or an AIDS memorial park? [NYT]

From the Facebook of Councilman Vincent Gentile: "Hinsch's is coming back! New owners are renovating but its still going to be Hinsch's! Owners from Skinflints made a deal with the landlord and saved the place. They're hoping to be open by November 1." More at Brooklyn Paper.

Enjoying a cheeseburger at Neptune in the EV. [MAD]

An interview with LES photographer Rebecca Lepkoff. [TLD]

10/26: Slavoj Zizek comes to St. Mark's Books. [FB]

10/29: Ruby's of Coney Island's closing party "after 77 years on the boardwalk."

*Everyday Chatter

Is it a real miracle? The Post reports that Zamperla's plan to shutter the Coney Island boardwalk is falling through--Ruby's and Paul's Daughter might be staying. [NYP]

Serenading for St. Mark's Books. [DNA]

On the little time capsule of Jones Street, Strider Records is shuttering. [Stupefaction]

The MONY weather beacon has lost its incandescent bulbs and neon for LED technology. [NYN]

Joe's Bar in the EV really, really looks closed. [EVG]

LaMama celebrates 50 years of theater. [LM]

Naomi Wolf on her arrest at Occupy Wall St: "if DHS now has powers to simply take over a New York City street because of an arrest for peaceable conduct by a middle-aged writer in an evening gown, we have entered a stage of the closing of America." [Guardian]

*Everyday Chatter

We knew this would happen: Ruby's Bar has been given two weeks notice to get off the Coney Island boardwalk--so some meaningless crap can move in. [Gothamist]

Pics from Halloween Parades of yore. [IL]

Super secret underground, abandoned subway art gallery. Where is it? [Gothamist]

Sin Sin lounge is dismantled. [EVG]

The bedbugs are coming! The bedbugs are coming! And other NYC scares. [MBN]

Remembering what phone calls used to be like--not so long ago in another century. [NYT]

Sausage guys: